General Guidelines

Editor's Eye is a thoughtful, gentle, and thorough critique service for a nominal fee. If you want feedback on your work, please see this link for more information.

Please read the following before you submit.

Star 82 Review welcomes unsolicited submissions. All art and writing must be original and unpublished (personal blogs okay). Please, no AI or computer-generated work. By submitting, you acknowledge that you are the creator and owner of the work. Rights revert back to writers and artists upon publication.

While there is no monetary payment, a discounted, prepublication rate will be available to contributors.

This quarterly magazine, published mid- March/June/September/December, is always available online for free.

Star 82 Review especially looks for humanity, humility and humor. The work should be subtle, slightly gentle, slightly edgy works that don't just self-express, but that do communicate and leave the reader with at least a fraction of hope. I read year-round.

Before you submit, please browse the online magazine to get an idea of the subject matter, tone, and styles we like. We never consider work that features violence, cruelty, or disparagement of anyone. We always aim to promote inclusivity, tolerance, acceptance, and kindness.

Please check each category for separate guidelines, and limit your submissions to two per month. Works that fall outside of the guidelines will be declined. If your work is declined, you may be requested to submit two more pieces right away, but please wait to be contacted or wait another month. Otherwise, your work may not be read or answered. We are in this together, so please read and follow the guidelines so I will be happy reading and viewing your work.

If you have previously submitted work to *82 please make sure you have not sent it to Star 82 Review before: if it was declined before, it will be declined again. Yes, I remember. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please notify me immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. I generally respond within a week or two.  

Please include a brief third-person bio with your submission. Bio should be publication ready, have your full name in the first sentence, and be 50-75 words (up to 100 for artists only = statement/bio combo) that highlight what you do and include where you live: mention only 2-5 publications that might say something about you (I am not interested in long lists or nominations, and if accepted, your bio will be edited to fit the format).

I generally respond to all submissions within two weeks, usually within a few days (contact me if you haven't heard in one month). Please note that if you don't ever hear it may be because you have a spam filter that does not allow my messages: please make sure that Star 82 Review is an accepted contact. Be assured that you will receive an acceptance or decline message directly via email. Just remember, it's not you, it's me: Star 82 Review accepts only 8%-10% of the work received.

As usual, read the magazine (it's right here!) to get an idea of what I'm looking for. It's pretty much family friendly in both tone and content.
See the About page for the spelling of my name and links to editor interviews that might also be helpful.

Informational articles elsewhere:
What Does It Mean When They Say "Read the Magazine?"
Formatting Magazine Submissions and Cover Letters
Insecurity & the Third Person Bio
Common Tropes to Avoid
What Editors Want
Photo-Based Erasure Texts
What It Means When an Editor Says, "Not a Fit"
Writing Creative Nonfiction
Can ChapGPT Help Your Writing?


Recommended list of other magazines that accept short work

CATEGORIES

Shorts (Fiction or Creative Nonfiction, up to 750 words and 2 stories; Flash stories under 50 words each: up to 10 tiny stories).

Short-short stories. Essays, creative nonfiction, and stories-of-the-day. Please indicate: fiction or creative nonfiction. Imaginative fiction. Vivid Imagery. Precise Language. Fresh story. Leaps of inference. A little humor. Yes tolerance and no violence, sex, or vices. Ultimately, kindness. That's what it takes. Human-generated work only. For a good description of CNF, please see this link.

Text: Send your best up to 750 words. (Longer pieces and novel excerpts will not be read.) Please no attachments.
Send Shorts and bio pasted in body of email: words [use at sign] star82review.com

Word + Image.

This category must include both writing and art, essentially a photo story. The image and the words must work together to create a new view that neither could achieve alone. Send excellent ORIGINAL drawings, photos, collages, paintings, or comics that you have created. (Please no copied images from the web or AI generated works.) that add to an excellent text. Images must be high-quality original works by you or your collaborator (with permission) not from the web. (Not even if copyright free. Original means original by you or your collaborator.) Send one picture and one text. Paste words into the body of the email.

For the Word + Image category we look for:
—A high-quality, compelling photo, often mysterious, beautiful, or humorous, that draws the viewer in
—Short prose or poetry that complements, but doesn’t explain or repeat what the image says
—Short prose or poetry that is also poetic, mysterious, subtle, inclusive, compassionate, with no antagonism toward others and not overtly said
—In general, we don’t accept photo portraits and prefer objects and landscapes/interiors that set the stage and mood for the writing.

Text: up to 500 words, pasted into body of email
Image: 4.5 inches (114 mm) in width, horizontally; 300 ppi; approx. 1M; jpgs or pngs only.
Send Word and bio (pasted into body of email) + Image: art [use at sign] star82review.com

Art.

Tell a story in an image that takes us to another world. Send up to five images as jpgs or pngs. Human-generated work only.

Images: 4.5 inches (114 mm) in width, horizontally; 300 ppi, approx. 1M; jpgs or pngs only.

For the Art category I look for at least one of these qualities:
—catches a moment in time that someone else won’t or can't see
—has a particular mystery to it
—makes an object seem to come alive or suggest a feeling or mood
—has shadows or a figure in a landscape but from a distance or from behind
—contains something unusual or humanmade in a natural setting
—shows city textures but more than just a formal look at composition and color
—offers a view where the reader is the subject
—has humor but also a deeper element
—does not look at woman or any person as an object or other
—encourages our connection to humanity
—has a subtle message
—is an image that changes how we see the world
—has a contrast or interaction
—contains interesting marks that show the hand or that someone/something was there
—And I tend to avoid specific portraits or images of people.
Send Art and bio: art [use at sign] star82review.com

Erasure Text.

The two main reasons that works sent in this category are rejected: 1. Lacking artful transformation. 2. Words are too many and too small. This category must combine writing and art. Find a new, unrelated text in an old text. Also known as altered text: usually a page from a used book or a scan or copy that has been completely transformed with color, collage, sewing, handwriting, mixed-media, or text from other sources. Looking for both visual and verbal impact. (Erasures done only with black Sharpie are unlikely to be accepted.) Send up to two files in one submission. They should be able to be read easily in a small format.

Image: vertical, 5 x 8 inches (125 mm x 200 mm) 300 ppi, approx. 1M; jpg or png only.
Send Erasures and bio: art [use at sign] star82review.com

Collage Poems.

This category combines writing and collage from tactile materials. Create a new, unrelated text from a variety of sources that becomes a visual image (sent as jpg). Send up to two files in one submission. They should be able to be read easily in a small format. Poems that use large type and/or fewer words are more likely to be accepted. (Poems that are not jpgs and that are plain text should be submitted as text only in the Hidden Gems category. But note that I am not a fan of poems that lift text from other poems.)

Image: vertical, 5 x 8 inches (125 mm x 200 mm) 300 ppi, approx. 1M; jpg or png only.
Send Collage Poems and bio: art [use at sign] star82review.com

Hidden Gems.

Please note that works that employ tabs or blanks between words cannot be accommodated. Small works in poetic form, lyrical language. Tiny, but satisfying. Striking imagery and/or a human issue (moral, ethical, dilemma, character trait) encouraged.
Types: experimental, free, hybrid, invented, narrative, prose. Send up to five poems. Paste into the body of the email. No attachments. Human-generated work only.

Text: 2-50 lines each (including line spaces), up to five poems. Please note that we can only accommodate flush left or centered formatting with no tabs. Due to the narrow format, lines longer than 65 characters each may be adjusted and reformatted for the print edition.
Send Hidden Gems and bio pasted into body of email: words[use at sign] star82review.com

Star 82 Press Chapbook

August 31, 2020 was the deadline for the first chapbook/full length book contest from Star 82 Press. There are currently no further calls for chapbook entries.

The first single-author publication from Star 82 Press was awarded to Déjà Vu Goes Both Ways poems by Heikki Huotari, with art by Kay Bradner. See samples here or go ahead and get a copy to hold in your hand here.





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Last updated: 02 February 2024